


if this was a love story, i'd call us a summer romance

by orphan_account



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Friends With Benefits, One-sided feelings, Rare Pairings, Self-Esteem Issues, Summer, and i put a scream reference in there because i'm that kind of person, everything about this is self-indulgent bye, unbetad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-07 17:31:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14675993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: FP thought he and Fred had something, somethingreal, but then he just turns around and falls back into his old patterns of chasing Hermione and competing with Hiram.FP finds comfort in an unexpected source: Mary Andrews, with her burning bright red hair and her plucky, brutally honest remarks. She's exactly the kind of salvation he needs at this point in his life.





	if this was a love story, i'd call us a summer romance

FP and Fred spend a night together in the spring - that FP believes to be mean something - and by the end of the school year Fred is caught in Hermione Lodge's orbit, frantically yearning for her affections, and FP is relegated to his old role as Fred's best bud, which is such an utterly worthless role, after the experience they shared together. A schmuck like Hal Cooper could fill his spot. 

Now Fred spends most of his time coming up with new ways to woo Hermione, and foil Hiram's counter-plans. (FP can't believe it, but for once in his life he's rooting for Hiram Lodge to win.) 

FP can do nothing but watch Fred be oblivious to his feelings, if not downright flippant, until he can't take it anymore and decides to put some needed space between them.

Thankfully summer's rolled around, and there's no better time for two high school friends to grow apart.

FP sooner than later learns that he doesn't have to try all that hard to avoid Fred, because Fred barely notices his absence.

 

 

FP spends a lot of his time outdoors, because next to Fred his father is another person he'd rather not be near, albeit for completely different reasons; he skims stones on the navy blue water of Sweetwater River, at night he drives to Greendale where the good clubs are, and when he's feeling extra bored and lonely, he hangs out with the likes of Mantle and Clayton. 

More often than not though, he ends up at Pop's, which is now emptier than usual. 

Things are the same, except for the familiar face behind the counter, welcoming customers with a warm smile on her face, looking adorable in her candy-striped uniform. 

Mary Andrews is not really somebody he socializes with, his relationship bordering on unhealthy addiction with Fred likely to blame for that, but hers is a name that everyone at Riverdale High knows. Normally the nerds, even the pretty ones like her are overlooked, but ever since she splashed a strawberry milkshake in Penelope Blossom's face for spreading a rumor about her and Tom Keller screwing in his car at the Twilight Drive-In, everyone has come to respect Mary, even fear her a little bit.

Sometimes he just sits there in his booth, twirling his straw around in his glass, and watches her; how she almost floats moving from one place to the next one, the way her face lights up when a song she likes starts playing and she inaudibly sings along. So far she's the most interesting thing summer has had to offer. 

He wants to say something to her, start up an actual conversation, but he just can't find the words.  _He. FP Jones. Normally such a smooth talker._ Or at least that's how he views himself. There are two things he's good at in life: football and making girls swoon. (The latter talent doesn't seem to extend to boys, if history is any indication.)

So it only makes sense when she gets the ball rolling.

"This is the third night in a row you've been here, Jones," she says as she puts his milkshake glass and empty basket of fries on a silver tray.

"What can I say, I like to support small businesses. Especially when the food and the service are so superb," he smirks, his infamous smirk that makes knees buckle, but she just narrows her eyes at him, the corners of her mouth raised in a way that denotes  _amusement_. And that reaction parches his throat.

"How noble of you," she says and turns around, disappearing into a room for personnel only. "So where's Fred?"

He all but chokes on the air he's breathing and shoots up, breezing over to the counter, and waits for her to come back.

"What do you mean?" he asks breathlessly. Suddenly he feels like a madman with the way he's reacting. 

"It's none of my business, but it's been kinda hard not to notice how you two aren't spending time together anymore. It's a sight I never expected to see, to be honest," she says and rests her elbows on the counter, leaning forward. It's the closest he's ever been to Mary's face. She has a constellation of freckles scattered about her nose and cheeks. 

"It isn't something I ever expected to happen either," he mutters bitterly, averting his gaze, but she very much hears what he said.

"I know we aren't... friends, or anything, but are you okay FP?" Her voice is silky soft.

He lifts his head to look into her eyes. They are big and brown and sincere. 

When he doesn't say anything, she adds with a smile, "You know I have to ask since you are one of our most frequent customers and a surprisingly good tipper."

"What do you mean by surprisingly?"

She simply shrugs and looks at him expectantly. She won't let him divert the conversation. She wants an answer, seems to genuinely want to help him, and maybe that's why he doesn't mind opening up to her.

"Do I look okay to you?" he asks, his smile brittle, pained. She's the first, and the only person, he has laid himself bare to.

She looks at him with pity, or maybe sympathy, but he's fine with either because at least someone is looking at him.

"I'm about to finish up. You want to walk me back home?"

He swallows.

"Yeah, sure. I'll... I'll wait for you."

 

He walks her back home, beneath a starry night sky. They talk (but she doesn't press him about whatever is bothering him) and they make plans, and for the first time all summer FP looks forward to something. He doesn't know if she wants to hang out with him because she feels sorry for him, or because she needs to fill a void of her own, but at this point, he doesn't care.

 

They spend a lot of time at her house. Her parents like him, which doesn't surprise him, but it does surprise her. 

"Why do you look so dumbfounded?" he asks as they sit on the couch in her living room.

"It's just... my parents are usually so strict in matters concerning boys. And you... you're great, don't get me wrong, but precedence promised a different reaction." She buries her face in her hands, muffling her next words. "Sorry, that sounds so terrible and insulting."

"One, you seriously underestimate my charm, and second," he gently removes her hands from her face and makes her look at him, "I get what you were trying to say. I'm not insulted."

 

Whenever he spends time with Mary, he doesn't think about Fred. And he feels good and he feels free, and like nothing's changed.

But back at home, the reality of his life weighs down on him like a heavy brick, threatening to suffocate him, and that's when it gets really hard not to get lost in the dark place that's his mind.

 

One day they are at the Bijou to watch  _A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN_ (it was FP's turn to choose, and Mary frankly admitted to him that she wouldn't have watched this movie on her own). They are seated in the back, with their popcorn and drinks, FP pumped for the movie to begin and Mary pumped for its eventual end, when none other than Fred and Hermione walk in, his arm wrapped around her waist. They don't see him, but he flinches at their sight, like he's ready to melt into nothingness in his seat. Needless to say, his mood for the rest of the movie is soured.

Mary doesn't connect the dots until FP drags her out of the movie theater the second the end credits roll, tugging and tearing at her and disheveling her outfit and hair in the process. He looks positively scared.

"It's Fred, isn't? That's why you have been down all summer. It all started once he started going out with her." Mary with her wide eyes and parted lips looks like she just solved life's greatest mystery.

He can't help but scoff. "I wish it had started only just then. My suffering period would've been reduced by half in that case at least."

Now she looks at him all confused, obviously wanting him to go on, but this is all he can give her for now.

He shakes his head. "Let's go before we bump into them."

 

The next night, he climbs up the tree to her window like some serial killer, and knocks on her window. All the lights in her room are on; she gets up from her bed, putting the book she's reading aside. She's wearing shorts and a tank top, and her hair is pulled back. 

She frowns at him as she opens the window. "What are you doing here FP?"

He responds to her question with another question. "Can I come in?"

She lets her eyes flit all over him and then she nods. 

He wanders around in her room while she watches him with her arms folded. 

He sits down on her bed and picks up her discarded book. " _Needful Things_? I didn't peg you for a Stephen King girl."

"And I didn't peg you for a guy who knows how to read," she says and tries to keep her face composed, but a smile escapes her.

She pads over to him and sits down next to him. "You didn't contact me since we left the Bijou yesterday. I was getting worried."

"Worried I jumped off a cliff?" he whispers and grips the spine of the book.

"Don't joke about that FP. Maybe it doesn't always seem that way to you, but you matter. If there's anything I learned this summer, it's that there's so much hidden depth beneath the facade FP Jones puts up," she says emphatically and strokes his back.

He bites the inside of his cheek. "But not everyone is able to see that."

"FP, I'm so sorry. If there was anything I could do to make you feel better, I would."

He turns to her and gazes at her so piercingly a shiver runs down her spine. "There's actually something you could do," he breathes and cups her face with his hands, pressing his lips against hers. She allows it for a moment before pulling away. "FP, I don't... I don't think this is a good idea," she says and presses her lips together.

"Please," he begs, and the sound tears right through her. His eyes are filled with desperation, and Mary Andrews has never been good at saying no to anyone in pain, so she kisses him, and he breathes into the kiss like she's finally giving him the air he's been deprived of this entire time.

 

They sleep together, and it's nice; FP is certainly talented, but the difference between sleeping with someone who's your friend and someone you're deeply attracted to is palpable. He makes her come, but no sparks shoot across her skin. 

The next morning she wakes up with her head on his chest. She slowly opens her eyes and then she looks up to him; his hair is ruffled and he looks peaceful. If he could only always look that way.

 

They sleep together a few more times that summer. But as summer's end is near, so is the end of their relationship. They always knew it was going to be a temporary thing; a relationship with an expiration date branded on it. They promise each other that they won't tell another soul about their little summer adventure; it's going to be their little secret.

 

It's Senior Year, and things are awfully reminiscent at first. It more or less begins the same way it ended. With Fred and Hermione in the spotlight and FP watching them from the sidelines. FP and Fred act like they never spent an entire summer apart, and it kills FP a little on the inside. It must be so easy being Fred sometimes. Whenever FP and Mary pass each other in the hallways now, they give each other knowing nods. There's something comforting about sharing a secret with somebody nobody else will ever know about.

 

When Fred and Hermione break up, FP exhales the biggest sigh of relief.

And then shortly after, Fred starts dating Mary.  _His Mary._ Or his former Mary anyway.

Unlike with Hermione he doesn't feel angry at her or at him.

Maybe because falling in love with Fred Andrews is very understandable, and Mary was there for him when no one else was.

If he can't have Fred, then Mary is who he should be with.

It's as good as it will ever get for him.

 

 

 

 

**fin.**

 

 

 


End file.
